Brief Profile:
I'm adding in grade updates to the schools, which moves my BCPM up to 3.35 (whoopie haha) and my overall GPA around a 3.5
-certified photographer for diabetic retinopathy, direct patient contact, federally funded rural health clinic -highly involved in patient education when working in clinics -have a VISTA grant for the upcoming year (through AmeriCorps) to start an interconception care program in the Central Valley -studied abroad in South Africa 5 months, volunteered in center for women and children -2 publications (one in Genetics, one government report) -lab research: summer of environmental research at UCM, worked at national laboratories for 2 summers, one quarter in neurogenomics lab at UCLA (left because I went to study abroad) -lots of clinical experience, shadowing, ect. -interned at Los Angeles Department of Public Health (MCH department) on a project looking for socioeconomic reasons for disparities in birth outcomes -currently volunteering at a health center for the underserved in OC
// Applications //
Application Cycle One: 2008
Undergraduate college: UCLA
Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences
Total MCAT SCORE: 516
MCAT Section Scores:
B/B 130,
C/P 128,
CARS 129
Overall GPA: 3.40
Science GPA: 3.21
Summary of Application Experience
Ok guys, my application shows that even with a low GPA there is hope!! nina7123 on SDN. PM me if you are a fellow low-GPA applicant and need some encouragement :-)
A quick summary: I was devastated when I saw my low GPA on AMCAS (it was higher on my transcript). If I had known about my low GPA I would have left out a lot of the top tier schools on my primary app. I think with updates I was around a 3.5 GPA, 3.4 BCPM
What helped me: 1.I think I had very strong LORs. One of my LOR writers mentioned that she would add in that my major has a very low average GPA 2. Applied to MD-MPH programs. I got the impression that these smaller programs focus more on the person and less on numbers 3. Sent in grade updates as I went along + some explanations for my grades. I had all As in my senior year science classes. 4. It was hinted that my ECs showed the development of my interests, rather than simply doing ECs as resume builders.
User #10809 took the old MCAT and scored a 34 which is in the 94th percentile of all old scores.
We converted this to a 516 on the updated scale which is in the 94th percentile of the updated MCAT. We also converted User #10809’s section scores as follows:
User #10809 scored a 12 on the Biological Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 130 on the Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems.
User #10809 scored a 11 on the Physical Science section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 128 on the Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems.
User #10809 scored a 11 on the Verbal Reasoning section of the old MCAT which is approximately equal to a 129 on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills.
